Prosecutors’ attempt to have the California Supreme Court review a decision in a sweeping San Bernardino County corruption case is baseless and should be rejected for several reasons, the attorney for a Rancho Cucamonga land developer charged in that case said in court papers filed Tuesday.

Those arguments were made Dec. 10 by the state Attorney General’s Office and District Attorney’s Office, asking the state’s high court to review a decision by the 4th District Court of Appeal in Riverside. “Finally and most importantly for purposes of this petition, the (prosecutors) blatantly misstate the Court of Appeal’s holding below,” Larson wrote. “…As will be seen below, this fundamental misstatement of the Court of Appeal’s ruling is the cornerstone upon which the (prosecutors) have based their petition for review.”

Burum is accused of conspiring with three former county officials to have the county settle a lawsuit for $102million with Burum’s investor group, Colonies LLP, in exchange for bribes. Also charged are former county Supervisor Paul Biane, former Assistant Assessor Jim Erwin, and Mark Kirk, former chief of staff for Supervisor Gary Ovitt.

All four defendants deny any wrongdoing.

The appellate court decided Oct. 31 not to reinstate bribery charges against Burum that San Bernardino Superior Court Judge Brian McCarville had dismissed.

And without that, the broader Colonies case falls apart, according to Rajan Maline, Erwin’s attorney.

“That’s the heart of the prosecution’s case,” Maline said. “With what the (appeal) court has done, you’re really left with nothing, and that’s why you see this appeal to the Supreme Court. It’s desperation.”

It is so obvious that the DA office is scrambling and so so outclassed. I cant wait for the truth to be told AND the tables turned on a corrupt scumbag DA

Observer of Facts on
December 18th, 2012 8:23 pm

As his case falls apart, District Attorney Mike Ramos has a “spokesman” tell us that it would be “inappropriate” to “comment on a pending case.”

However, he found it appropriate to comment on a “pending case” when he held a grandstanding press conference to announce the prosecution of “the most appalling corruption case in decades, certainly in the history of San Bernardino County and maybe California itself.”

What an insult.

Anonymous on
December 18th, 2012 9:38 pm

#1 Anonymous, thanks for leaving out the “tick toc” for that is a given already; remember Pink Floyd’s “The Trial” we serenaded to Ramos …. “there is no need for the jury to retire!”

#2, OoF, are you saying Mike Ramos is STILL under his desk, refusing to “comment on a pending case.”

Well, being that our District Attorney MIKE RAMOS is such an openly NOTORIOUS ROMEO, maybe some dancing girls circling his desk will lure him from under it so The Sun could have an interview, like two grown men. And we could even lighten things up for Mike Ramos with a newly assigned THEME SONG, one he could LIVE OUT PUBLICLY for us.

WAAAA, WAAAAAA, WAAAAA, Ramos can’t do that!….ha ha ha, Thank God that here in America we have the laws that permit such appeals and reviews. For as much as the lot of you long for the oligarchy of modern day Russia, we are still, for the moment, in America.

Observer of Facts on
December 19th, 2012 8:53 am

Anonymous #5:

We “long for the oligarchy of modern day Russia?” Because we expect an elected official to stand accountable for his actions?

By the way, I looked back at some of the comments you made when the Appellate Court was still reviewing the lower court ruling. You’re a lot quieter now, kind of like Mike Ramos.

Little Stevie Wonder on
December 19th, 2012 9:29 am

Observer, with the $102M gift, financing and attorneys fees, reportedly the total cost to the taxpayers is approaching $300M… (“we can go higher” says DA Mikey!)

Observer of Facts on
December 19th, 2012 9:45 am

Little Stevie Wonder:

I am not referring to the $102 Million settlement, which you and some others like to refer to as a “gift,” where the county received 72 acres of land and avoided a potential damages judgment that could have bankrupted them.

I am referring only to the money that the DA’s office has spent on this prosecution since the day of the press conference where they announced “the most appalling corruption case in decades, certainly in the history of San Bernardino County and maybe California itself.”